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| "One does not simply plant roses." |
One reader phoned last night and said later, "I have to get off the phone so you can post another article." He is interested in Lutheran topics, but he likes to read about Sassy and gardening.
He said this about discussing doctrine in public, "That is the old divide and conquer tactic. Those things should be discussed in public."
Paul wrote that there must be divisions and heresies, to prove what is good.
1 Corinthians 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
The context of Paul's statement is the abuse of Holy Communion in that congregation, which leads his passage on the Words of Institution.
Controversies arose from the earliest days, as we can also see in 1 John, where the apostle addresses those who deny the divinity of Christ, a popular fad of the last century or so.
Our managerial society is bogged down with church leaders who promote false doctrine, but have their telescopes and microscopes out for any sign of dissent from Holy Mother Synod.
If these tactics were adopted in gardening, what a mess would follow.
"I think you are putting the tulip bulbs in upside-down!"
Answer - "God appointed me to this office. He would not let me make a mistake."
"Are you sure you want to plant something so invasive?"
Answer - "My father and grandfather planted these. Are you calling them incompetent?"
"Why are you buying from that catalog when their bulbs are junk? The other catalog has much better bulbs at the same price."
Answer - "All you ever do is cause trouble."
Some gardening practices are a matter of preference, but others are not. Those who want a solid wall of color are going to plant floribunda roses or the new easy-care roses like Knock-Out. They will not get roses that are easy to cut for vases, and the blooms will last only a short time.
However, hybrid tea blooms tantalize us by starting to bloom for a long time, slowly developing the bud, and rewarding us with spectacular flowers that last much longer than florabundas and have long stems for vases.
No one is going to get great roses from dime-store plants that lack the DNA for perfect blooms and the best colors. They are the failed hybrids that sell because someone has waxed them up, placed a cute namecard on them, and sold them cheap.
Thomas Paine wrote in the pamphlet that won the war for the Patriots -
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.
Thomas, Paine, The Crisis
Since the fight for the truth is puny and half-hearted, we are surrounded by circus entertainment instead of the Means of Grace, coaching talks instead of sermons, popcorn and soda distributed instead of the Body and Blood of Christ offered.
